THE KORBAN THAT 'COMES NEAR' FOR US.

Hebrews 4:14, 16                                                           

Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Yeshua the Son of God, … Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

During our whole narrative in the Book of Exodus, Moses had unlimited access to Hashem. Now that the Tabernacle is completed and that the glory of Hashem fills it, Moses cannot go in (Exod. 40:34-35). What happened? This is the great paradox concerning the glorious presence of Hashem inhabiting among us; God is to live within us but the sinful nature we contracted through disobedience in Eden forbids us communion. Hashem therefore must ‘tweak the system’, find a loophole so to speak, in order to make fellowship happen.

In the first verses in the Book of Leviticus, the Almighty reveals his plan and says, “The man who approaches me needs to bring Me a ‘token of approaching’ from his flocks or from his herds” (Lev. 1:2: Literal translation by me). It is unfortunate that for ‘token of approaching’ most English texts use the word ‘sacrifice’, as it does not convey the idea meant in the Hebrew text. The Hebrew word used here is Corban קורבן, a Hebrew word left un-translated from Hebrew in the Mark's narrative of the life of Yeshua (Mark 7:11). What is a Corban?

The Torah teaches that life is in the blood, "For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement (covering) for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement (covering) by the life" (Lev. 17:11), so the blood of a biblically clean animal is brought forward instead of ours which is corrupted by sin. The Hebrew word Corban is actually a derivative from the Hebrew verb lekarev לקרב, to approach or to come near. Therefore the animal brought forward to the altar not a gift nor a bribe to gain brownie points with God, but a token that helps us come near to Hashem by proxy.

It seems that from the time of Abel through the Levitical service to today, both in Heaven and on earth, the principles of approaching Hashem have remained the same; in essence, we don't. We only approach the Almighty God Creator of Heaven and earth by proxy, through the agency of an acceptable token. In the Tabernacle/Temple on earth through the agency of a clean animal; in the throne in Heaven, through the agency of Yeshua the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Rev 5:6; 13:8; John 14:6).

The Torah (as in Hashem's commandments found in the five books of the Pentateuch) is truly a tutor which teaches us this principle (Gal. 3:24). In a sense this confirms the idea that, "I am ADONAI, I change not" (Mal. 3:6).

May we all grow close to our Agent, Yeshua HaMashiach  המשיח ישוע ; as we confess him on earth, He confesses us to his, and our Father (Mat. 10:32; John 20:17).